The Flagpole

Plans for the College’s new Science Centre are entering the next exciting stage of development, having concluded the RIBA ‘developed design’ stage on schedule at the end of January.

During February and March, the College’s Science Working Group and professional advisors will be working on a revised cost plan and undertaking a period of value engineering to see where savings can be made on the project, before entering the ‘technical design’ stage.

The team now have at their disposal a virtual 3D model enabling them to effectively walk around the building from a computer keyboard, in order to refine their plans. They are fine-tuning elements including visual displays, laboratory layouts and details such as arrangements for services in the state-of-the-art £8 million building.

Comments, Ed Hester, Headmaster, “We are moving forward apace with the project. There is still a huge amount of work to do but if all goes to plan we should be in a position to go to tender at the end of August, with construction starting early in 2021 and completion in summer 2022. To bring the project to life for pupils, parents and staff a scale model of the building has been commissioned and will be put on display in school shortly after half term.”

The fundraising campaign launched to work hand in hand with the delivery of the project has been well received by stakeholders. Early responses to the Development Team’s mailing of the new Science Campaign Plus brochure and attendance at school events such as Parents’ Evenings has seen good levels of interest expressed in both sponsored periodic table elements and engraved granite floor pavers.

16 of the 118 elements on the giant Periodic Table that will be displayed in the new building have already been provisionally reserved (see image) and the engraved pavers which will be laid at the front of the building are proving popular too.

The next phase of the fundraising will include a two-week summer Phonathon campaign involving young Old Princethorpians, who will be contacting the wider Princethorpe community to raise the profile of the campaign and secure further donations.

Our Director of Development, comments, “Fundraising is vital in making our vision for Science Plus a reality and bringing it to fruition as soon as possible. We would welcome the opportunity to talk to parents, staff and pupils about the Campaign and the broader work of the Development Office.”

For more information on the Science Plus Campaign and to register your interest in the Menu of Giving, which also features regular giving and corporate and personal naming opportunities click here.

Alternatively, you can email makingadifference@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634265

Three recent Princethorpe College Sixth Formers are thrilled to have received unconditional offers for places at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Former Head Girl, Lizzie Carr, 19, will be reading English Language and Literature at Christ Church College, Oxford, she will be joined by Amy Field, 18, who has an Open Offer to read History there too, and Daisy Vucevic, 19, will read Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion at Selwyn College, Cambridge.

The high-flying girls all received outstanding A-level results last summer and on the back of that success made the decision to apply to the UK’s two most prestigious universities.

Oxbridge places are highly oversubscribed and increasingly competitive, the talented trio faced a tough selection process consisting of pre-tests, intensive scrutiny of their academic and personal achievements and rigorous interviews before receiving the good news. Throughout the process they were supported and encouraged by the Sixth Form team, Oxbridge Co-ordinator, Mrs Hester and their Princethorpe subject teachers, who provided individual guidance over the past few months.

Princethorpe College Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, commented, “These three girls have earned this outstanding success. During their time at Princethorpe College they applied themselves not only to their academic studies, but also to developing themselves as confident and mature young people. Applying to Oxbridge is an extremely rigorous and character-testing experience that seems to get tougher every year.  We were delighted to support them with their applications and are exceptionally proud of all their achievements.”

More Year 9 places are to be made available at the College for September 2020 entry, following a significant increase in demand.

Headmaster, Ed Hester comments, "Our current Year 8 has been full for some time and we have been looking at ways to accommodate a few more good children into the Year Group. Interest has grown sufficiently now to make providing more places a viable option for the start of the next academic year."

He continues, "To facilitate this we will add another teaching group into the year. This will reduce the average class sizes and give us more opportunities to fine-tune the teaching groups and setting. It also helps us to maintain a broad curriculum and provides better timetable options for all the pupils in the year group which will have further benefits as we move towards GCSEs."

A further Entrance Exams session will take place on Tuesday 31 March aimed at children currently in Year 8, who would like to join the College in September 2020. The registration deadline will be Friday 20 March, three days after our Open Morning on Tuesday 17 March, giving candidates and their families the opportunity to visit and be toured round the school by our Year 7 and 8 pupils.

Offers will be made on Friday 1 May, with an acceptance deadline of Friday 15 May 2020.

For more information please contact the Registrars at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634201.

14 Princethorpe runners have qualified for the National ISA Cross Country Championships after competing in the Midlands regional competition at Bedstone College, Shropshire on Wednesday 5 February. In addition the U15 Boys, U15 Girls, U13 Boys and U13 Girls teams all placed first, the icing on the cake for the College.

Princethorpe College runners have a long tradition of success at this competition, many have competed at Bedstone before, so hopes were high as they set off to do battle for a place at the National competition.

Both the U13 Girls' and Boys' teams ran well and with so many College pupils finishing in the top 20, both Princethorpe teams bagged the top spot and the team trophy for their age group. Qualifying for the Nationals for the U13 Girls were Kate Pomerleau, Ava Farren and Hannah Wildey who ran superbly to come 1st, 3rd and 5th position respectively. For the U13 Boys Ben Smith, Oscar Reynolds and Ollie Farquharson were just as determined to qualify, finishing their race in 3rd, 5th and 9th.

For the U15 Girls Grace Darcy and Jess Evans had excellent runs to finish in 3rd and 6th place. Whilst for the U15 Boys Zac Johnson, Toby Collett and Jamie Smith came home in quick succession in 5th, 6th and 7th place. They all qualified for the Nationals too.

The U18 Boys team ran swiftly with the Crowfoot twins in excellent form, Tom finished 1st and brother Will 2nd, reversing the results of last year, both qualify for the Nationals, and with a solid team performance the U18 Boys also claimed second position overall for their age group.

In the U18 Girls, Molly Minshull had an excellent race taking 3rd place in a competitive field, she qualified for the Nationals too.

Head of Outdoor Education and PE Teacher, Will Bower, said, “It was a fantastic team performance and I am delighted with the results. You never quite know what you’re going to get with cross country as conditions can be difficult, but today we had red vest after red vest crossing the line at the front of the field; our runners took on the arduous terrain and did very well.”

Our qualifying runners will now compete in the ISA National Cross-Country championships that will take place at Worksop College on Friday 20 March.

Congratulations to all who took part.

Running for Princethorpe were: Hannah Wildey, Martina Grace, Olivia Bacon, Pip Evans, Kate Pomerleau, Grace Darcy, Ava Farren, Julia Loftus, Jess Evans, Kaena Wasley, Emma Sarkies, Ella Dunkley, Lottie O’Connor, Amelie Hancock, Rosie Reeve, Caitlin Horan, Olivia Sarkies, Molly Minshull, Jesse Esler, Jamie Capelett, Ben Smith, Ollie Farquharson, Eddie Arkesden, Finn Knight-Gray, Zac Johnson, Jamie Smith, Will Antrobus, Oscar Reynolds, Albert Jackson-Bettles, Thomas Windley, Ed Twyman, Toby Collett, Ollie Bench, Sam Allen, Dan Webb, Tom Crowfoot, Will Crowfoot, Luke Palmer and Fred Self.

Upper Sixth Formers Anthony Lock, Samuel Wycherley and Oscar Doyle impressed the judges to finish as runners up in this year’s local Youth Speaks, the Rotary Club’s annual public speaking challenge. In the competition, which took place on Thursday 6 February at the Northgate Methodist Church in Warwick, the Princethorpe College students faced teams of pupils from local schools.

Youth Speaks requires a team of three students to stand up and deliver a speech on a subject of their choice. It provides a great opportunity for young people to develop the ability to speak on a public platform, carry out research and formulate ideas, improve their self-confidence and presentation skills, and work together as a team.

Each competing team comprises of a Chairman, a Proposer and an Opposer. The Chairman introduces the debate and the Proposer and Opposer then speak for and against the motion. The structure of the event makes for an entertaining and diverting session where the students not only have to present clearly, but also spontaneously respond.

Competing in the Senior section, the team debated the motion ‘Positive discrimination is never justified’, Anthony Lock introduced the debate as Chairman, Samuel Wycherley spoke in favour of the motion and Oscar Doyle spoke against. The students were eloquent and convincing. Their speech was very well received with the audience engaged throughout.

The students had worked hard to prepare thoroughly. They were helped and supported by Head of English, Chris Kerrigan who commented, “Anthony, Samuel and Oscar were an absolute pleasure to work with. They put a lot of effort into researching the subject and were commended on the quality of their ideas and their speeches. It was an excellent result and they should be proud to have finished as runners up in what is always a tightly fought competition. It really was an outstanding effort and performance.”

The boys, who narrowly missed out on first place to an experienced team from Myton School, thoroughly enjoyed the evening and learned a lot from listening to the other teams who took part.

What a kinda magic the opening night of this year’s College production We Will Rock You was. Featuring a hilarious script, thrilling storyline and the Greatest Hits of Queen, the cast surpassed themselves as We Will Rock You Schools Edition blew our minds!

Set in a scarily accurate future, the production tells the story of two revolutionaries as they try to save Rock in a post-apocalyptic world. It is packed full of much-loved classic Queen favourites including Another One Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, We Will Rock You, Somebody To Love, We Are The Champions, Don’t Stop Me Now to name just a few. Songs and melodies that parents and relatives grew up listening to and that are back in the limelight now following the success of the film Bohemian Rhapsody.

As always, audiences were treated to a spectacular evening of rocking entertainment and if the first night is anything to go by, you’ll all be tap tapping along and whistling the hits long after you leave.

Some tickets are still available for the performance tonight, Friday 7 February at 7.00pm and there are just a few now remaining for Saturday 8 February at 7.00pm, the Saturday matinee is fully booked. They are priced at £5.00 each and £3.00 for children. Please follow the links to book them, please note there are limited seats and tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Wishing the best of luck to everyone involved for the remaining shows - you are the champions and we hope you have a great run!

Princethorpe College's U14 Boys Football team have finished as runners up after a sensational performance at the Independent Schools Association (ISA) National Football Championships.

The six-a-side competition took place on Tuesday 28 January at Nottingham University. 20 teams had travelled from across the country to take part in the prestigious event.

The boys stormed through the group stages finishing top of their pool without conceding a single goal. Their opening match was played against Lucton School and confident play led to an easy 1-0 win. They then faced Trinity School Teignmouth, who were dispatched just as quickly 2-0. Next came Huddersfield Grammar School who put up more of a fight, the match was fast paced but Princethorpe’s boys held on for a 0-0 draw.  They finished the initial round with another good 2-0 win against Leighton Park School.

In the semi-final the team faced Red House School but Princethorpe’s boys capitalised on every opportunity.  Superb goals from Dawson Barnett (2) and Joseph Bird ensured the match finished in a fantastic 3-0 win.

In the final Princethorpe went up against a strong and experienced team from the Priory School.  It was a much tougher game, both sides played well and the U14s were unlucky to lose out just going down 0-2 at the end.

Assistant Head of Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, was delighted and commented, "The boys played fantastic football today and the silver medal is a brilliant reward for their commitment and tenacity on the pitch. I am very proud of them all, they were incredible."

Playing for Princethorpe were Year 9 pupils: Joseph Bird, Dawson Barnett, Radley Evans, Alexander Hammond, Barnaby Hammond (Captain), Ben Putt, Jamie Robinson, Rahul Samra and Luc Sen-Gupta.

We are pleased to announce that registrations for the Careers Fair on Saturday 21 March from 9.30am to 1.00pm will open on Friday 14 February when all parents with pupils in Year 10 and above will be sent a link to the online registration page.

As well as a keynote presentation by Dr Charlotte Cowie, Head of Medicine at the Football Association, attendees will be able to attend up to three workshops depending on their personal interests and visit an exhibition zone.

Please do make sure that this date is in your diary as this year's fair is set to be the biggest yet with a whole wealth of speakers and exhibitors. There will be talks on a wide variety of career areas, from accountancy and cyber-security to law and fashion. Many employers will be both speaking and exhibiting including the Armed Forces, Rolls Royce, Severn Trent Water, IBM, JLR and Ernst and Young.

We also have over a dozen universities attending, several of whom will be talking about the opportunities they offer. For those considering a gap year, there will be organisations offering life-changing opportunities.

We look forward to seeing you there.

On Wednesday 22 January 28 GCSE Fine Art pupils visited the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums in Oxford. The trip offered an opportunity to take photos and produce drawings and sketches from first hand observation, all of which could then be used as stimulus for their coursework portfolios.

Full of atmospheric galleries and artefacts from all corners of the world, the complex and diverse collections offered pupils plenty of choice. All worked exceptionally hard and came away with plenty of valuable inspiration.

Year 11 pupil, Hannah McBride, commented, “In the Pitt Rivers Museum, we saw many archaeological and ethnographic objects from all parts of the world. The Ashmolean Museum displays a range of ancient and modern art and antiquities covering world civilisations, plus fine and applied arts. This trip was very beneficial and enjoyable, because we were able to take many photos and gain inspiration from what we saw, to influence our GCSE exams. Due to the unfortunate weather, we enjoyed our lunch sheltered on the steps of the Ashmolean, but it didn’t dampen our spirits!”

Head of Art, Paul Hubball, added, “It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and the group were a pleasure to take out.”

Last year the Foundation introduced a new Use of Images Policy. Parents are reminded that from around the age of 12 and upwards, the law recognises children’s own rights to have a say in how their personal information is used – including their images. 

Parents of pupils who are in Year 7 will have completed a Use of Images consent form as part of the joining pack.

Parents of pupils in older years should be aware that all pupils now in Year 8, and pupils in older years who have joined the school in the last year, will be given the opportunity to express their preference. 

To gather responses from our Year 8 pupils and from pupils in older years who have joined the school since we last sought consent we will shortly be distributing consent forms in tutor time.

You can find the Use of Images Policy here. Please take time to discuss this with your child.

In summary:

Use of Images - The Foundation makes various uses of images of pupils during their time with us. Where these are necessary for administration and the safety of pupils, such as CCTV and for security ID, the Foundation does not require consent.

Images are also used for marketing and promotional purposes, to celebrate the achievements of pupils, promote the work of the Foundation and the education it provides.

The Foundation does require consent for these purposes and we hope that parents and pupils as appropriate will feel able to support the Foundation in using pupil images in this way.

Images generally will not have pupil names against them. Names will be used with images when, for instance, celebrating a specific pupil’s, team’s or group’s achievement.

Additional specific consent will be sought for instances when a single pupil is the main focus of a press release or on billboard or bus adverts.

Pupils and parents may withdraw consent for use of images at any time in the future by writing to the Registrar at the College.

Please be aware that it may not be possible to change printed publications, such as a Foundation magazine or prospectus, or third-party publications (for example where we have placed an advert or provided an image to a newspaper).

Princethorpe College wove a magical spell on muggles and wannabe wizards who came to the school's Saturday Morning Cinema showing of Happy Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The special screening for Year 6 pupils who have been offered places for entry to Year 7 in September 2020 took place on Saturday 1 February. The College was delighted to welcome the children into school for an early introduction to the magic of Princethorpe or perhaps just for that morning, after the reported sightings of owls on the campus, we could say Princewarts.

Next year's new starters will come from many different primary schools, so the morning was one of a number of opportunities the College organises where future pupils can start to become a little more familiar with the College site and potential new friends.

The spellbinding entertainment began with a warm welcome from our very own ‘Albus Dumbledore’, Headmaster, Ed Hester. He spoke to the children about starting a new school, a theme reflected in the film, and about the College's house system.

Midway through the screening there was an interval when the children visited the College's dining room to stock up on popcorn and even a sip of polyjuice!

At the end of the morning the children were joined by their families and after more refreshments everyone went home having thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The College looks forward to welcoming them back as pupils later in the year – although we do hope they won't be too disappointed when they find out that their new timetables will be limited to more traditional subjects rather than lessons in Potions, Transfigurations and Defence Against The Dark Arts!

Pupils from Years 10 to 12 studying Drama and Theatre Studies were lucky enough to have Gen from Splendid Theatre visit yesterday. Splendid create challenging and vibrant productions and have visited the College on previous occasions with their touring performances of Woyzeck and Dr Faustus amongst others.

The pupils were thrown into a workshop of epic proportions as they explored the practical nature of Brecht's theatre.  All theatre in some way comes from this German 20th Century practitioner whose theory includes montage, song and gestus in creating the verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect).

During the day pupils bounced and babbled with shock, disgust and delight as Gen kept a sharp eye on their choral work and urged them to 'push their smiles down' and exaggerate attitude and physicality.

Joint Head of Drama, Aileen Cefaliello said, “Gen’s wonderful wit and idiosyncrasies charmed and disarmed our pupils in equal measure as she drove them to discover the spass (fun) in their work.  Her parting words were ‘add a little tap and tickle, otherwise it's just too earnest.’ ”

Year 11 pupil, Greg Burford commented, "The day was brilliant, Gen's infectious nature really benefitted our work and has inspired us all to be braver."

Year 5 and Year 6 pupils from local primary schools enjoyed a fun introduction to the sport of Rugby when they took part in Princethorpe's Try Tag Rugby event.  The after-school session took place on Friday 24 January and was organised by the College's PE team out on a cold but dry all-weather pitch.

Working in small groups, led by Sixth Form Games Prefects and coaching staff, the children began with energetic warm up activities. They were then split into groups depending on their experience for a series of skill building drills. There was plenty of quick, agile passing and slick ball handling from the young players as they got to grips with this fast-paced sport. The session finished with a mini tournament played in front of an enthusiastic crowd of parents and siblings.  The youngsters then wended their way home clutching certificates and munching one of our legendary Princethorpe cookies.

Princethorpe College Primary School Sport Liaison Teacher, Hannah Carminati, was impressed at how well the children took to the sport commenting, “It was great to have so many enthusiastic boys and girls here on a Friday afternoon. They had lots of fun getting to grips with Tag Rugby, quickly mastering the game and it was great to see everyone enjoying playing together. They progressed enormously and the standard of Rugby played in the mini-tournament was really very good.”

Feedback from parents was great too with one commenting, “A huge thank you for the fantastic time my son had at Tag Rugby, he was full of enthusiasm after the event.”

The successful workshop was just one of a series of activities and opportunities the College organises for prospective pupils to introduce and familiarise the youngsters with the school. Next up on the sporting front is Princethorpe’s Say Hello to Hockey event for Year 4 and 5 children which takes place in the Trinity Term on Saturday 2 May.